Screening of pepper accessions for resistance against two thrips species (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Frankliniella occidentalis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thrips parvispinus</Emphasis>)

Thrips are damaging pests in pepper worldwide. They can cause damage directly by feeding on leaves, fruits or flowers, and also indirectly by transferring viruses, especially tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Although thrips are among the most damaging pests in pepper, until now there is no commercial variety with a useful level of resistance to thrips. This is at least partly due to the lack of knowledge on resistance levels in pepper germplasm of QTLs and/or genes for resistance, and of information about resistance mechanisms to thrips in pepper. This paper describes our research aimed at developing practical and reliable screening methods for thrips resistance in pepper and at identifying pepper accessions showing a strong resistance to thrips. Thirty-two pepper accessions from four species of pepper (Capsicum annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense and C. frutescens) and two species of thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis and Thrips parvispinus) were used in this study. Our results indicate that the laboratory based leaf disc test and the detached leaf test can be used as reliable screening methods for thrips resistance in pepper. We observed a large variation for resistance to thrips in Capsicum that can be exploited in breeding programs.     

Water quality fluctuations under floating net cages for fish culture in Lake Cirata and its impact on fish survival

ABSTRACT:   Vertical profiles of water quality were surveyed before and after mass mortality of fish cultured in cages in Lake Cirata, a man made lake in Indonesia. The first survey was performed 4 months before the mass mortality and the second survey was carried out 4 days after the mass mortality. In the first survey, the conditions below 8 m depth were reductive and anoxic, although at 8 and 10 m depth, the water became oxidative in spite of low oxygen concentration in the second survey. These changes were probably caused by strong mixing of surface water with deeper water. Eight months after the mass mortality, when the redox potential at 8 m became reductive again, exposure tests of fish were performed in different layers in the water column around the cage. During the exposure tests the redox potential of the water was less than −100 mV and 93% of carp died within 6 h of exposure at 8 m depth. These results indicated that the mass mortality was caused by the strong mixing of surface water with reductive water in deeper layers.     

Clindamycin in the treatment of Babesia gibsoni infections in dogs

This report examines the effectiveness of clindamycin for the treatment of babesiosis in dogs (n=10) experimentally infected with Babesia gibsoni (B. gibsoni). Clindamycin (25 mg/kg body weight, per os, q 12 hours for 14 days) gradually reduced parasitemia levels and induced morphological changes that indicated degeneration of parasites (e.g., segmentation; size reduction; localization in the cell limbic and/or torn state of the nucleus; and swelling, decrease, or disappearance of the cytoplasm) in the majority of dogs. Clindamycin treatment reduced the clinical symptoms characteristic of Babesia infection, including anemia, anorexia, and listlessness. Clindamycin might be useful as a medicine for treatment of B. gibsoni infection.     

Operational Effectiveness of Centralized Nursery for Small-Scale Forestry in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, the Philippines: Lessons Learned in Seedling Production for Commercial Energy Crop Plantations

One way to maximize potential income of smallholder tree farmers is to ensure high quality of planting material. In San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, the Philippines, great importance is placed on seedling quality because Energy Crop Plantations (ECPs) managed under a Short-Rotation Coppice (SRC) system will involve a single planting for several three-year coppices. High seedling quality requires superior seed provenances and seedling propagation methods. Throughout the establishment of the nursery facility, and the propagation of planting stock, data collection, reporting and database systems have been designed to capture relevant costs and technical information. Training has been provided to nursery personnel and labourers to enable them to operate the nursery and produce high quality seedlings. This paper reports a practical operational evaluation of all materials and procedures followed in nursery establishment and seedling production. Economies of scale in nursery operation are achieved at a production level of at least 90,000 seedlings per planting season of three months in the year. The production cost is estimated at PhP 3.57/seedling, excluding the cost of the nursery infrastructure and overheads. Cost comparison with decentralized or contracted nurseries shows little variation at a total cost of PhP 4.12/seedling. However, with these alternative nursery arrangements there is high risk of producing low quality seedlings by possible reduction of inputs and skipping quality enhancement procedures to reduce production cost.     

Genetic diversity of rice germplasm (Oryza sativa L.) of java island,Indonesia

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - The role of genetic diversity in crop germplasm is an important concept within genetic conservation. In this research, 43 accessions were analyzed at the...     

Effects of phosphorus addition with and without ammonium, nitrate, or glucose on N2O and NO emissions from soil sampled under Acacia mangium plantation and incubated at 100 % of the water-filled pore space

An incubation experiment was conducted to examine the effects of phosphorus (P) addition with and without ammonium, nitrate, or glucose on N₂O and NO emissions from soil taken under Acacia mangium plantation and incubated at 100 % water-filled pore space (WFPS). Additions of NO ₃ ^? stimulated the N₂O and NO emissions while NH ₄ ⁺ did not, showing that denitrification was the main process of N₂O and NO production in the study condition. When NO ₃ ^? was added with P significantly (P?<?0.05) increased N₂O emissions regardless of the ratio of the added nitrogen and carbon, suggesting that P addition stimulated denitrification activity. The activation of denitrification by P addition is possibly attributed to two mechanisms: (1) the added-P stimulated denitrification by relieving P shortage for denitrifying bacteria and (2) the added-P stimulated activity of heterotrophic soil microflora with increased O₂ consumption promoting the development of anaerobic conditions with stimulation of denitrification.     

Linkages and Trust in the Value Chain for Small‐scale Aquaculture in Asia

The small‐scale aquaculture (SSA) sector is recognized as making an important contribution to food security, poverty alleviation, and socioeconomic development. A value chain analysis can uncover insights into the linkages and trust within a value chain and constraints and challenges that face the sector. This paper examines the linkages and trust between SSA producers and traders in Asia in order to better understand the constraints and opportunities faced by small‐scale producers. The perspective revealed by the value chain analysis provides response strategies that can enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of the entire value chain and the actors that comprise it.     

Phosphorus application reduces N2O emissions from tropical leguminous plantation soil when phosphorus uptake is occurring

We examined the effects of phosphorus (P) fertilization on N₂O emissions from an Acacia mangium plantation in Indonesia. We focused on the roles of microbial and plant root activities using a trenching method to prepare root-excluded and root-including plots. In root-excluded plots, P application did not change the amount of N₂O emissions. By contrast, in root-including plots, P application significantly reduced N₂O emissions (from 71.1?±?20.2 to 19.3?±?5.1 mg N m^?2 106 days^?1). Lower total P, Bray-2 P, and Bio-P (microbial P determined by chloroform fumigation extraction method) contents in the soils of root-including plots as compared to root-excluded plots a few days after P application shows that acacia trees absorbed P fertilizer rapidly. This rapid P uptake probably relieved the P limitation of acacia and might have consistently increased root N uptake. This interpretation is supported by lower inorganic N content in P-applied soils (the average of three sampling times is 8.9 and 11.3 μg N g soil^?1 in P-applied soils and soils without P application, respectively), which in turn decreased N₂O emissions. Our study suggests that P fertilizer suppresses N₂O emissions from tropical leguminous forest plantations.